As you may have realized by now, I am an annual pass holder at Walt Disney World. This means we bought a pass at the beginning of the year that covers park tickets for 12 months. As often as we go with our Run Disney runs (we’ve done two this year already), it’s crazy to NOT have an annual pass. After 10 days in the parks, the pass has paid for itself. With out first two runs, those 10 days pf park tickets were covered by the pass and paid for it. Planning for Disney is about the same as planning for a week at the beach. Since we don’t take week long trips to the beach (or anywhere else), we are able to drive down to Orlando fairly easily and without much regard to the 10 hour drive. I know it sounds insane, but the more you do something, the less you notice the time. We leave at the same time every trip, so we know what time we will hit certain stops we make along the way.
We took a quick trip to Orlando the first weekend of June. I’ll be honest, we went to get our Daisy Duck AP holder magnet. They offer special magnets to pass holders throughout the year and we don’t like to miss them. Plus it gave us an adult trip away for a long weekend.
We left EARLY on Saturday and arrived in time to enjoy lunch at one of our favorite places at Disney Springs, Blaze Pizza. They have a specialty menu, but it’s also a create your own kind of place like Chipotle. You order and they create your pizza right in front of you. They each feed 2 people nicely. They also have gluten free options. Side note, we are getting a Blaze Pizza near the Viva Chicken on Wendover in Greensboro.
We had fast passes for the few days we were there, but no real plans. I love these non-run trips. We can get up early (or not), take naps in the middle of the day, and stay out late if we want. These are my favorites. When we first started coming to Disney, and long before we were annual pass holders, every trip was planned and BUSY. We were on the go. And when you go once a year, that’s the way to do it. Disney is not the place to kick back and relax for a once in a lifetime trip. You want to see it all and do it all. And there is just so much to see and do! I still haven’t done it all.
We also take time to explore OFF property. We will easily leave one park and hit the Chick-fil-A for lunch and head to another park. This trip we discovered our new favorite burger spot, Ford’s Grill. This new restaurant was developed around the old Ford automobiles. They’ve done such a fantastic job with it that Ford partnered with them to ensure the theme would be perfect. I’ll talk more about it in a post for another time. We are already planning to eat there again when we go back in July.
I hear lots and lots of funny comments about being at WDW all the time. I’d go once a month if I could. It’s the one place you can be a kid and no one cares if you’re a 50 year old kid (unless you are throwing a tantrum–50 year old tantrums are not pretty). It’s magical. And that’s the one rule you have to follow while you’re there…..Don’t. Ruin. The. Magic. It’s the happiest place on earth, the best spot for people watching, and some of the best food and beverages in the country.
If I could be there ALL the time, I would. One day, my friends, one day.
And if you see my mom today, be sure to wish her a Happy Birthday!! She’s got the day off and I hope she is relaxing and enjoying herself. Love you, mom!
I love Disney, thanks for the virtual visit without all the calories! 😉